Avoid conducting illicit actions unless forewarned.
Rewritten Article:
Heads Up, Banking Clients! Here's What You Need to Know
In a bold stance, the Telegram channel of the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, has addressed a hot button issue: banks cannot arbitrarily worsen the terms initially agreed upon in contracts - a fact stated to be "clearly defined" by federal law. Netizens are left to battle it out in court, incurring additional costs, while banks continue to play coy with their service conditions.
A popular yet persistent concern is the inclusion of the unilateral right to change service conditions in client contracts. Inquiries sent to Sberbank, VTB, Sovcombank, Alfa-Bank, and other systemically significant banks regarding this matter have yet to yield responses. Little wonder then that the "For Borrowers' Rights" project of the People's Front finds itself inundated with complaints about such practices.
According to Yevgeniya Lazareva, the project's leader, over the more than decade-long existence of the project, they've received around a thousand complaints of bank violations. Yet this doesn't tell the whole story. Faced with a complex web of factors, citizens often choose to sit on their laurels, relying on the state to swoop in and save the day.
Lazareva paints a stark picture, warning against the insidious introduction of hidden fees, unnoticed interest rate increases, and sneaky tariff changes. However, navigating these treacherous waters proves to be a challenge. Exemplified by a Supreme Court ruling, the law can and does become convoluted when attempting to establish the consumer's consent to new conditions.
EnterAndrei Emelein, chairman of the National Financial Market Council, who steps up to break it all down in an interview with "Expert". "Consent", he clarifies, cannot simply be assumed; it requires explicit confirmation from the client. Emelein refers to a previous Supreme Court ruling, which served as the foundation for the Bank of Russia's subsequent clarification in 2022. The Bank of Russia spells it out: some credit organizations may view the client's silence as consent, but this practice is not accepted. The Supreme Court stipulates that any change in the contract must be presented in a way that unequivocally demonstrates the client's consent to the new conditions.
So, there you have it: a delicate dance begins, fraught with legal maneuvering, as banks avoid direct confrontation with their clients. The ball is in the court of the State Duma, the Bank of Russia, and the Supreme Court to establish concrete guidelines on how consent should be documented. Should the Bank of Russia's infrastructure buckle under the strain of systematic contract relending for each tariff increase, banks are left on the prowl for alternative methods of implementation.
But let's face it, the banks may just be playing the long game here. Measly SMS or push notifications about tariff increases seem unlikely to reach their target audience, if at all. Elman Mehtiyev, the deputy chairman of the expert council for the protection of the rights of financial services consumers at the Bank of Russia, points to the necessity of balancing interests. A 30-day grace period should elapse following notification, during which the client must decide whether to acquiesce to the new terms or opt out of the contract altogether. After all, there's truth in the complaints of Russian citizens, but it remains unsupported by a solid legal backing.
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- The unilateral right to change service conditions in client contracts, a persistent concern in the business sector, is currently a subject of disputes in courts, as banks continue to evade clarifications about this practice.
- In the complex web of financial market regulations, consent from clients cannot be assumed and must be explicitly confirmed, as stated by Andrei Emelein, chairman of the National Financial Market Council. This requirement, based on previous Supreme Court rulings and Bank of Russia clarifications, aims to ensure client protection in finance businesses.
